Iraqi doctors provide free medical care to eastern Baghdad residents

Photo By Jeremy Todd | An Iraqi nurse directs a woman to a station where she can get medication she needs during a free medical clinic conducted in a schoolhouse in the Zafaraniyah area of eastern Baghdad Dec 20.
see less
| View Image Page

Iraqi doctors and an Iraqi nurse tended to area residents seeking health care as coalition forces medical personnel, who did not directly get involved with treatments, observed and offered medical advice and support to the staff when requested.

"The Iraqi people need to learn to trust that their doctors are trained well enough to provide the proper care they deserve," said Capt. Sean O'Brien, effects coordinator for 5th Battalion, 25th Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, MND-B.

Within minutes of the team's arrival, Zafaraniyah citizens began lining up to receive much-needed medical care. Spc. Thomas Green, an infantryman with Company A, 5th Bn., 25th FA Regt., provided security for citizens seeking heath care as they lined up in front of the clinic. "There seems to be around 50 or so adults and a whole lot of kids," expressed Green, an Albuquerque, N.M. native.

"This is a combined effort to ensure the security of both the medical personnel and the citizens participating," explained Sgt Donna Quinn, 340th MP Co. team leader from Queens, N.Y. "My team's job is to search females and their children" before they enter the screening area.

"Even though not everyone received treatment, the day is a successful one," commented O'Brien, a Sanborne, Iowa, native, who explained that doctors had to leave before all prospective patients were treated. "Another positive note is that the unit replacing 5th Bn. 25th FA Regt. Had an opportunity to "get a feel for the area and the people they will be working with over the next year," he said.

The Iraqi medical staff mostly treated mothers with children. By the end of the free clinic, Iraqi medical staff treated more than 70 women and children and a handful of men.